Regional Business Information for the North West
About Us
Insightful, thought-provoking and always relevant, TheBusinessDesk.com is the only website dedicated to North West business news.
We offer:
- The news you want when you want it (to your PC, PDA, mobile and BlackBerry).
- Authoritative articles on issues relevant to the region.
- Interviews with the movers and shakers of North West business.
- Online exclusives.
- Searchable archive.
Led by David Parkin, our team of award-winning journalists includes former regional business editors and published business authors.
Corporate Information
TheBusinessDesk.com was launched in Yorkshire in November 2007 by former Yorkshire Post business editor David Parkin backed by a group of 
professional investors and entrepreneurs. It opened in the North West in September 2008. Bringing the highest standards of regional business information to the Internet and mobile devices, it is the only website dedicated to Yorkshire & North West business news.
TheBusinessDesk.com is owned and operated by TheBusinessDesk Ltd. Registered office: Convention House, St Mary's Street, Leeds, LS9 7HD.
The North West Team
Editor - Chris Barry
Manchester-born Chris Barry joined theBusinessDesk.com in October 2008 after 10 years with the Manchester Evening News.
A former news reporter with the Press Association, Chris joined the MEN after two years in Glasgow. After two years as a business reporter, he became deputy business editor.
In 2006 he became Business Editor where he launched the acclaimed weekly business supplement.
The major stories he has covered include the Glazer takeover of Manchester United, the rise and fall of Manchester software group iSOFT, the merger of The Co-operative Group with United Co-ops and Thomas Cook’s takeover of MyTravel.
He has led the way with a number of exclusive stories and interviews, including Bob Kelly from Bank of New York Mellon, Sir Terry Leahy from Tesco and BA chief executive Willie Walsh.
A well known ‘face’ around Manchester, Chris has appeared on local radio and TV stations commenting on key economic issues and major business stories.
He is particularly interested in the retail, leisure, business of sport, corporate finance, inward investment and commercial property sectors.
Tel: 0161 238 4922 Email: chris.barry@thebusinessdesk.com
Deputy Editor - Joanne Birtwistle
Joanne has spent her entire journalistic career working in business news.
Before joining TheBusinessDesk.com, she was a senior business reporter at Crain’s Manchester Business.
Prior to that, she was a journalist with Insider magazine for more than three years, where she worked on a wide range of news and features as well as being editor of many of its supplements and contract print publications.
After graduating with a degree in politics, Joanne’s first job was at business information and analysis company Datamonitor. As senior editor she managed the online CommentWire team, responsible for all the commentarial and news analysis content produced by the company. She was also editor of Datamonitor’s weekly Business Review e-newsletter, which was electronically circulated to around 30,000 subscribers.
Tel: 0161 238 4922 Email: joanne.birtwistle@thebusinessdesk.com
Assistant Editor- Mike Fahy
Mike Fahy is an experienced journalist who has been covering business in the region for more than 12 years. Prior to joining TheBusinessDesk.com he spent a couple of years as deputy editor of Crain's Manchester Business where he was responsible for the newspaper's coverage of private equity, banking, professional services and enterprise sectors.
Prior to joining Crain's, Mike was editor of EN The Magazine for Entrepreneurs - a magazine for owner/managers based in the North West. During this period, Mike interviewed many of the UK's leading entrepreneurs including easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ionnau, Stagecoach co-founder Brian Souter, Sir Alan Sugar and Sir Rocco Forte, among others. During his time at EN's parent company Excel Publishing, Mike also worked on a number of the company's business-to-business magazines including Builder & Engineer, Retail Property & Development and Northern Housing.
At TheBusinessDesk.com Mike will be responsible for the property and regeneration sectors.
Tel: 0161 238 4922 Email: mike.fahy@thebusinessdesk.com
Business Development Manager- Phil Birkhead
Phil Birkhead joined TheBusinessDesk.com in 2008 after spending a number of years as a senior business developer and sales manager in the online recruitment industry, and before that as a branch manager in sales recruitment.
Phil has over 8 years' experience in the digital industry and has managed teams in online sales in the UK, Middle East and India. During this time he has worked with some of the world's most recognisable brands and been involved in three business start ups.
Phil now holds responsibility for business development in the North West region of TheBusinessDesk.com.
Tel: 07801171880 Email: phil.birkhead@thebusinessdesk.com
The Yorkshire Team
Editor - Ian Briggs
Ian is an award-winning journalist who helped to expand the Yorkshire Post's successful business coverage.
During his time at the Yorkshire Post as a business reporter between 2005 and 2007, Ian broke a host of exclusive stories, including high profile deals from the region such as the record-breaking sales of Keepmoat and Firth Rixson. He has also interviewed many of Yorkshire's major business personalities.
Ian was named Business Writer of the Year at the Yorkshire Press Awards in 2006.
He has built up an enviable contacts book, has strong relationships with the regional business community and within Yorkshire's commercial property sector.
Prior to working at the Yorkshire Post, Ian started his career as a news reporter at the Telegraph & Argus in Bradford where he was named Young Journalist of the Year at the Yorkshire Press Awards in 2004.
Tel: 0113 394 4325 Email: ian.briggs@thebusinessdesk.com
Assistant Editor- James Reed
James has spent the last seven years working in the Yorkshire media including five at the Yorkshire Post, firstly as education correspondent and later deputy opinion editor, columnist and leader writer.
Prior to joining TheBusinessDesk.com, James was a press officer at the University of York raising the profile of its research, teaching and community activities to local, national and international media.
Tel: 0113 394 4323 Email: james.reed@thebusinessdesk.com
Commercial Director- Mark Webb
Before joining TheBusinessDesk.com, Mark worked for Insider Media for almost nine years and was part of the management buy-out of the company in 2005. Mark had a number of managerial roles during his time there, most recently as the Managing Director for the North East region.
Mark has spent the last 20 years in media sales working for a number of organisations including Express Newspapers, Associated Newspapers and Offshore Investment Limited. He's joined TheBusinessDesk.com as Commercial director and looks forward to being part of the growth of this fast-moving business.
Tel: 0113 394 4541 Email: mark.webb@thebusinessdesk.com
Business Development Manager - Aimee Willow
Aimee Willow joined TheBusinessDesk.com in November 2010 as Business Development Manager. Previously she spent 4 years working for the Yorkshire Business Insider building a new territory for the business in her role as Senior Account Manager. She also spent some time during roles working for a sports event management company focusing on client development across the country
Tel: 0113 394 4543 Email: aimee.willow@thebusinessdesk.com
The West Midlands Team
Editor - Andy Coyne
Andy Coyne joined The BusinessDesk.com in December 2011 as editor of our West Midlands service.
Previously he was editor of Midlands Business Insider and before that he held senior editorial positions on a number of national publications including Estates Gazette and the Financial Times title Financial Adviser.
His work has appeared in newspapers around the world including the South China Morning Post and the Gulf Times.
Birmingham-born Andy is a great enthusiast of all things relating to his home city.
Tel: 0121 250 5730
andy.coyne@thebusinessdesk.com
Publisher - Marc Reeves
Marc Reeves joined TheBusinessDesk.com in January 2010 as launch editor of our West Midlands service.
Previously, he was editor of The Birmingham Post and has held senior editorial and management posts in the regional press across the UK.
At the Post, he spearheaded the development of its online services, including the use of social media, and the brand became one of the most well regarded online players in the regional press.
As editor, in 2009 he led a national cross-media campaign for the UK government to support Jaguar Land Rover and the automotive supply industry, during which he interviewed the Prime Minister, Lord Mandelson, and travelled to India to interview Ratan Tata of Tata Motors, owner of JLR.
Birmingham-born, Marc is active in the civic life of the city, through his membership of the Lunar Society and involvement in many other organisations and boards.
Tel 0121 250 5730 marc.reeves@thebusinessdesk.com
Deputy Editor - Duncan Tift
Duncan Tift is a journalist with more than 20 years experience of the West Midland business community having worked for two of the region’s flagship newspapers – The Birmingham Post and the Wolverhampton Express & Star.
Between 2006 and 2008 he was one of the mainstays of The Post’s Business Desk. As Manufacturing Correspondent he worked on a variety of sectors including automotive and was the first journalist inside Longbridge for resumption of MG production. He was also sent on foreign assignment to India for the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover by Tata Motors.
Prior to being appointed Deputy Business Editor, he worked as Emerging Markets Correspondent where he gained specialist knowledge of West Midland companies working in China, India and other BRIC markets.
During his career on the Express & Star he gained an extensive knowledge of the Black Country and Staffordshire, developing a strong network of contacts.
Specialist areas included the decline of the Staffordshire coal industry, the development of the M6 Toll, regeneration issues and political coverage.
He has also been a guest lecturer at Wolverhampton University; Wolverhampton College and Sutton Coldfield College.
Tel 0121 250 5733 duncan.tift@thebusinessdesk.com
Business Development Manager - Lee-J Walker
Lee-J Walker is an experienced senior business developer who has worked across the UK and the Middle East within the world of on-line advertising and recruitment.
Prior to joining the TheBusinessDesk.com, Lee-J was based in Dubai working for the $22bn turnover global recruitment company Manpower Inc as the regional group sales manager for the Gulf.
He covered six countries and nine offices and helped to launch two new business lines in the region. His experience before this was also working as a regional director for SAON where he assisted in the creation of the group's Middle East business.
Returning back home to the UK in early 2010, Lee-J is heading up business development for TheBusinessDesk.com in the West Midlands.
Tel: 0780 708 3544 leej.walker@thebusinessdesk.com
The Board
Editor & Director - David Parkin
David Parkin is the Editor and founder of business news website TheBusinessDesk.com.
He was Business Editor of the Yorkshire Post from 2000 to 2007, responsible for its award-winning business pages. He expanded the newspaper's business coverage to include two weekly broadsheet supplements and high profile business events.
Backed by investors and funders, he launched TheBusinessDesk.com in November 2007 and it has since expanded into the North West and West Midlands.
David has held senior roles on newspapers in London, Cardiff and the Midlands, and has secured many exclusive interviews with major business figures including Sir Ken Morrison, Lord Hanson - and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As a high profile figure in the business community he has built unrivalled contacts, David is often called upon to host and chair events and is regularly invited to offer his opinions on major business stories on national TV and radio.
Tel: 0113 394 4324 Email: david.parkin@thebusinessdesk.com
Chairman - Chris Jones
Chris is a highly experienced corporate lawyer and businessman with a strong executive and non-executive track record.
He has been a non-executive director of Britannia Building Society since 2003. With over £30bn of assets and 4,000 staff in over 190 retail branches, it is a major retail network and a model of corporate governance..
Chris was chairman of Clarity Credit Management Solutions Ltd since formation in 2005. Chris oversaw the sale of Clarity to Nikko Principal Investments Aug 2006.
He is a senior non-executive director of Agenda Management Services Ltd, a highly profitable £6m turn over outsourcing business with 125 staff. Agenda specialised recovery business covering mortgage arrears retail recoveries etc.
Chris is a non- executive director of Samian Underwriting Agencies Ltd, a City of London based insurer of intellectual property assets and he is also a non executive director of Trango Ltd, the Chichester safe travel and disaster recovery business.
Chris was managing partner of international law firm Hammonds for nine years. He managed the firm's growth from £30m to £130m turnover including major international expansion. The firm employed over 1,800 staff when he retired from the role in 2004.
His role as managing partner of Tourmalet Consulting - an advisory firm dealing with start ups/turnaround and general business advice - keeps Chris in contact with numerous Yorkshire professionals. He has 20 years experience as corporate recovery and reconstruction lawyer handling major business reconstructions.
Finance Director - Colin Glass
Colin is a chartered accountant with his own practice, Winburn Glass Norfolk (WGN) which he founded in 1974.
He is a non-executive director of several companies, including Surgical Innovations Group plc, Straight plc and GETECH Group plc all of which are quoted on AIM and which came out of the WGN portfolio.
Colin is a non-executive director of The Partnership Investment Fund PIF (http://www.partnershipif.co.uk/), a £37m fund set up, with funding from Europe and Barclays Bank, to support SMEs and social achievement in the Objective 2 areas of Yorkshire and The Humber.
Colin is also a non-executive director of a number of private companies being groomed and developed with a view to a future trade sale or floatation.
TheBusinessDesk in the News:
Financial Times - 'Media interest in regions on increase' - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/87c4165a-a777-11dc-a25a-0000779fd2ac.html
HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk - 'New website launched by former business editor' - http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/2007/11nov/071126business.shtml
How-do.co.uk - 'MEN loses business editor as Barry moves to TheBusinessDesk.com'- http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-publishing/men-loses-business-editor-as-barry-moves-to-thebusinessdesk.com-200809253583/
The Guardian.co.uk - 'Successful Move from Paper to Screen'-http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2008/sep/10/theregions
How-do.co.uk - 'TheBusinessDesk launches North West edition and looks to rapid expansion'- http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-publishing/thebusinessdesk.com-launches-north-west-edition-and-looks-to-rapid-expansion-200809093441/
HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk - 'Business website goes from strength to strength'- http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news080909parkin.shtml
The Guardian.co.uk - 'MEN’s Chris Barry defects to business news website'- http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/26/digitalmedia.pressandpublishing
